Government troops clashed with separatist Tamil Tigers in Sri LankaÂ’s volatile north, killing three rebels, the military said Sunday. The clash took place late Saturday in the northern district of Vavuniya, which borders rebel-controlled territory, an official at the Defense Ministry information centre said on condition of anonymity in line with policy. He said army troops confirmed that three insurgents were killed in the fighting while the army suffered no casualties. Rebel military spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan was not available for comment on the incident.
The latest violence comes as a top UN official is scheduled to arrive in Sri Lanka this week to discuss the islandÂ’s deepening Tamil separatist conflict and the plight of civilians caught in the crossfire, officials said Sunday. John Holmes, the under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, will hold talks with Sri Lankan leaders and also travel to the embattled northern and eastern regions, officials said.
Sri Lankan foreign ministry officials said that he will travel to the Jaffna peninsula in the north and the district of Batticaloa where security forces last month wrested control over the final bastion of the Tiger rebels. “The visit is aimed at getting a first hand assessment of the situation,” and improving “humanitarian access to the affected areas,” an aid official said, adding that Holmes, however, will not travel to the rebel-held Wanni region.
Holmes, who arrives Monday for four days, is also scheduled to attend a remembrance ceremony for 17 aid workers of the French charity, ACF or Action Against Hunger, killed a year ago by unidentified gunmen in the restive north-east of the island. Nordic truce monitors have blamed government forces for the killing, a charge denied by the Sri Lankan authorities. Police investigations remain inconclusive.